The Quarter Quell
by atrfla
Summary: I reimagined the 75th Hunger Games. The mentors choose from a list who to send into the arena, and on the list are only their friends and family. Rated T for violence. We couldn't have a Hunger Games without violence, now, could we?
1. Prologue

**This is a really short prologue, just to let you meet the main characters!**

**Disclaimer: I own all of the tributes except Gale and Madge, and I don't own any mentors or anything. Just the tributes except the District 12 ones.**

"And now we honor our third Quarter Quell!" President Snow said brightly, and the little boy in white stepped forward. He opened the lid of the box, and President Snow plucked the _75_ envelope from its place. He slid a finger along the envelope, opening it, and read out the proclamation.

"On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that the entire war was their choice, the male and female tributes will be chosen by the mentors. They must be a friend or family member. The mentors will be given a list they can choose from."

_Chosen by the mentors… _Katniss wondered. _Mentors... _

_…I have to send one of my friends or family members into the arena._

000

Johanna Mason read the list with tears in her eyes.

_1. Gail Mason._

That was the last person she loved- her twelve-year-old cousin. Didn't even belong in District 7. Too weak to throw an axe, too tiny to even hold one. Johanna had always done her best to protect her.

And now there was no choice than to watch her die.

000

"Shark Odair."

Shark rose from his seat and padded up onto the stage. He didn't necessarily _want _to go into the arena and die, to try and fail to live up to his uncle's legacy. But he didn't want anyone else to die, either.

000

_I am _not_ going to pick Prim,_ Katniss thought. _She's only thirteen._

_That leaves me with Delly, Leevy, and Madge._

Knock. Knock. "Come in," she called, and Madge entered quietly, closing the door behind her.

"I have a favor to ask," clarified Madge.

"What?" Katniss asked. "I'm kind of preoccupied here. Trying to decide which one of you to send into the arena, you know."

"I want you to send me," Madge requested. "Delly is too cheerful, she would be dead in a few seconds. Leevy is a mediocre girl, who wasn't poor enough to die and wasn't rich enough to learn how to use a weapon. Me, I know how to use weapons."

"What weapons?" Katniss asked curiously.

"I'm a natural with darts."

000

"Miri Gold."

Miri stood up. She knew her mother, Wiress, didn't mean to pick her. She just had no one else to choose. She wondered who her honorary uncle, Beetee, picked.

"Wiret Zeal."

Wiret, Miri's friend and honorary cousin, stood up. Miri and Wiret exchanged glances, then walked over to the stage together.

000

"Jerz, I'm so sorry," Chaff whispered as his fourteen-year-old brother clomped up onto the stage, even though he knew that Jerz wouldn't hear him.

His female counterpart, Seeder, looked over at him with pity in her eyes. "I had to choose my oldest daughter," she said softly. "I know how it feels, to have to pick the one you love most because they're the only one on your list."

"I think the Capitol did that on purpose," Chaff said suddenly with a vengeance.

**Yay, prologue done! Review for a shout-out in a following chapter and/or a virtual cookie!**


	2. Submitting Tributes

**Okay, since everyone is obsessed with this 'submitting tributes' stuff, I have to do a submit story, right? MAKE SURE YOU DON'T REVIEW YOUR TRIBUTE! I WILL NOT USE ANY TRIBUTES SUBMITTED IN REVIEWS! ONLY PMS PLEASE! J Also, for 'how they die', if it's really obvious like 'tree lands on them', I will not use that and will instead come up with a gruesome death ****_if_**** I use them. Mwahahahaha!**

**I have openings for the District 5 boy, District 7 boy, District 8 boy, and District 9 boy! Since I'm actually writing the 'in the arena' chapters now, I need need need characters for those guys! PS: I won't change any characters that you see in the story already. Sorry!**

**Format:**

Full name (first, middle, last):

Short backstory:

Age (can't be 12 or under/ 19 or up):

Hair color:

Eye color:

Skin tone:

Any other stuff you want to specify about appearance:

Any special skills:

Weapons of choice:

Do you want them killed off, and how if yes? (I can't promise that they'll survive, but I'll try!):

Falls in love with another character?:

Any other stuff I forgot:

**You can submit 0, 1, or 2 characters! Just submit them in separate PMs please! Virtual rabbits for all who submit 1! Virtual rabbits and shoutouts to all who submit 2! A promise that I will not use your characters for all who submit 3 or more! :)**


	3. Chapter One

**First chapter! It's Madge's POV, just to let you know! A big thanks to Evelyn Wood for submitting the first tribute!**

**Disclaimer: I own all of the tributes except Gale and Madge, and I don't own any mentors or anything. Just the tributes except the District 12 ones. And I didn't invent all of them either!**

I looked around the room. I recognized exactly one person: Gale, across the room. He was technically too old to have his name in the 'pot', as I called the reaping ball, but since this was a Quell, anything could happen, I guess.

My eyes were drawn to the only 12-year-old in the room. A poor little girl across from me from District 7 was literally shaking. Probably with fear. She was probably following in the footsteps of her mentor, Johanna Mason, who won due to her 'I'm just a poor little girl who can't do anything' routine and her wicked killing skills.

We went around the circle, saying names and ages. I only paid attention to a few: the little girl from District 7 introduced herself timidly as 12-year-old Gail. The District 3 tributes introduced each other ("She's Miri!" "And he's Wiret!"), and the District 11 tributes, male Jerz and female Poppy, were standing as far away from each other as possible while still staying close together. The remainder of the tributes muttered their names grumpily, including me.

"You can begin training," announced the trainer.

We moved in straggly groups or alone to the stations. I started at the knot-tying station with Gale and the boy from District 9. We tied ropes for a while until the District 4 tributes came over, making it too crowded. I left for the archery station.

Let's put it this way: I sucked.

But I did notice something. Wherever Gale and/or I went, there was always a big crowd who followed us. Mostly from the districts that died early in last year's Games. Among them were Jerz and Poppy, Miri, Wiret, Gail, a tall, skinny eighteen-year-old from District 10 named Calvert who we all called Cal, a handsome thirteen-year-old from District 4 that I recognized as Shark Odair, and a pretty little twelve-year-old that I had overlooked earlier. She seemed to be from District 8, and had midnight black hair paired well with shining emerald green eyes. She was following Shark wherever he went, and was obviously quite smitten with him. I heard someone call her 'Steph', and concluded that her name must be Stephanie. They rarely or never joined the station that Gale and I were at, but instead crowded around the nearest stations to the point where they were smothering the trainers.

And during lunch that first day, when Gale and I sat down together, we were surrounded. The Careers looked very put out. A few stragglers from our group walked over to them, leaving us with Wiret, Jerz, Miri, Gail, Cal, Poppy, Shark, and Steph. Without even realizing it, we became a little team.

Allies.

000

On the second day of training, they all came over to me and looked at me expectantly. I knew we were allies; it was pretty obvious.

"Divide and conquer!" I suggested. We all nodded assent and split up. Gail and Gale headed over to the shelter station, Jerz and Miri hopped over to the fire-making station. Poppy and Wiret ran to the edible plants station. Shark casually strolled over to the spear-throwing station, where the people who would become his Career teammates if he left our group stood. Cal followed him, and Steph scurried off to stand next to Shark. The Careers simply laughed, jeered, and pushed Steph away from the station. She came back to me, shaking, scared, and small.

I took her under my wing. "Hey, no worries. Those Career tributes are just big bullies. They're jealous that we have Shark, because he's-"

"Finnick Odair's nephew," completed Steph. "Since I saw him yesterday I researched him last night."

_Stalker! _rang through my head, but I pushed it off. "Laugh it off, Steph. They're just Careers."

We trodded over to the knife station together, but when Steph couldn't hit the dummy from five yards away, she started to shake violently and dropped to the ground, nearly killing herself on a fallen knife.

I rushed over to her. "Steph, what's wrong?"

She looked up at me through confused eyes, still shaking. "I can't do it," she said, hyperventilating. "I can't go into these Games! I can't die here! I can't! I won't! I can'twon'tcan'twon'tcan'tcan'tcan'tcan't!"

The boy from her district came over. "Don't worry, Steph," he soothed. "Everything will be alright." He looked at me. "She has anxiety attacks sometimes," he told me. "This was a smaller one by comparison. She'll be fine."

"Anxiety attacks?" I echoed.

**Okay, the only tribute I didn't create in this chapter was Steph. Thanks to RavenRoset for creating her! Virtual cookies for all who review! (::)**


	4. Chapter Two

**Okay! First of all… this chapter is from Gale's point of view. Second of all… I am entering tributes into the story as I see fit ****_and _****as I get them. I'm saving a few for later, when I see fit to enter them! So, if your tribute doesn't make an appearance until later, no tears! Third of all… apparently no one likes virtual cookies, because this story has NO REVIEWS and NO FAVORITES! The person to give this story its FIRST review and/or favorite… can request a virtual anything… come on people!**

**How about this: You'll get one of Steph's anxiety attacks if you don't review! Mwahahahaha! **

**Thanks to youngdopefree for submitting a tribute with a great backstory! It's very clever!**

I was getting tired of Gail.

Sure, she was nice. She was a little shy, and very small and timid. In some ways, she reminded me of Katniss's sister, Prim. In other ways, she annoyed me to the point that I was begging Cal to trade partners and he was looking at me with annoyance and surprise. "Trade partners?" he said as if I'd just suggested we assassinate the president with one of Madge's poison darts. "Why would I do that?"

Miri and Madge, who seemed to be getting along very nicely considering their three years of age difference, joked that I was meant to be partnered with Gail. Gale… Gail. See, they rhyme. But that would've been like pairing Poppy and Miri. Their names vaguely rhyme, but they destested each other. Well, not detested… more like mildly disliked.

She followed me everywhere, like a shadow. I was sure my annoyance would show, but the others assured me I was still handsome, charming, aloof Gale.

Good.

I had my eye on a pretty girl from District 4. Sure, she wasn't Katniss; but if Katniss loved my mentor who'd chosen me for the Games, and if I wasn't going to get out of here… why not love a girl?

Do not get me wrong. I am not a player who goes around seeking pretty girls at every corner. But I know a gorgeous one when I see one.

Her name was Tasi. Tasi Cresta, the younger sister of Annie Cresta. They looked nothing like, which suited me just fine. The sad part was her tragic backstory. She used to be very close to her sister, who was 3 years older than her at twenty. Then the Games changed Annie totally, and Annie forgot about her little sister. She picked Tasi for the Games because they look nothing alike and Annie didn't believe that Tasi was her younger sister.

Tasi was originally with the Career pack. Then when she saw that we had her male counterpart, Shark, she switched sides, which was perfectly fine with me but earned us glares of hatred from the remainder of the Career pack. One seemed especially mad at us: the burly blond boy from District 1. I asked Tasi what his name was, and she shrugged.

"That's August," she said. Tasi's voice was very light, and when you heard it you imagined waves lapping up on the shore. Katniss had told me about waves. If waves could talk, Tasi would sound like a wave. "He's from District One. He's Cashmere and Gloss's cousin. He's really good with a sword, kind of like Cato last year, but he's really slow. I mean, snail slow. And he's definitely not the biggest fish in the net, yeah?"

I agreed. "Definitely not the biggest lump of coal in the mines."

"How dangerous _are _the mines, anyway?" she asked.

"Very. We rarely have mine explosions, but when we do, they're fatal," I explained.

She gasped, eyes wide. "Like shark attacks!"

"Shark attacks people?" I asked, looking over at the thirteen-year-old boy. "In your district? That's cruel!"

"No- a shark is a big fish with a fin on its back and really big teeth," she explained. "It's really scary. My dad's leg was bitten off by a shark when he was nineteen."

I winced. "My father died in the mines when I was thirteen, more or less."

Tasi gave me a look of pity. "That's too bad."

We went over to throw some knives.

000

Later that day, after dinner of lamb stew and dried plums, Peeta pounced on Madge and me. "So. Ten mentors have requested you two for an ally- including two Career mentors. Who do you want?"

"Miri from Three," Madge said immediately. "And Steph. From Eight."

"Cal from Ten and Jerz from Eleven," I requested. "And Tasi from Four."

"Oooh, Gale has a girlfriend!" taunted Madge. I rooolllleeed my eyes.

"Who else requested us?" I asked Katniss, who'd materialized next to Peeta.

"Shark, from Four," listed Katniss. "Poppy from Eleven. Wiret from Three. Gail from Seven."

I groaned.

"What's wrong?" Katniss asked.

"She's really annoying. She just… urgh!" I pounded a table with my fists.

"I like Gail," Madge chirped. "Let her in. I take full responsibility. And why not let Poppy in too?"

"Well, then," I growled, "Wiret and Shark come too. That makes it close to even."

"But Katniss said ten people," Madge said. "That's only nine. There are eleven people in our little wolf pack. Who's the tenth?"

Katniss checked her list. "A girl named Melody. Melody Dawnblossom, from District Nine. She's fifteen. Check her out tomorrow and tell me your decision tomorrow night."

The mentors walked away, leaving just Madge and me.

"Have you been on the roof yet?" I asked. "It's really cool."

Madge yawned. "Not now, Gale. I'm pretty tired. I'm going to bed."

She clipped off, leaving me alone for the roof.

I paced the roof until half past midnight. The parties on the street were loud, and I was an insomniac. Finally, around one, I heard the door on the other side of the dome open. I was so relieved that Madge had decided to come after all. I needed someone sane to talk to.

I ran around the dome to the door, trampling a few ground vines in the process and not caring a bit. Finally, I got to the door.

The girl's silhouette in the doorway startled me, but I let her into the garden anyway, and to hell with the rule that you can't fall in love with/ kiss someone from outside of your own district.

**We all know who she is, don't we?**

**I will keep writing the chapters, but until I get 3 reviews and 1 favorite, I won't update. I'm talking to you- yes, you. You are keeping my fans from getting their story.**

**WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? REVIEW ALREADY!**


	5. Chapter Three

**WOW! Ten reviews and four favorites! That's more than I could've hoped for! This chapter is dedicated to ****_everyone who followed/favorited/reviewed my story_****. I got a few requests for 'virtual anythings', so here is some virtual shawarma: [][][]. For those who don't like shawarma, here's some virtual cookies. Triple chocolate chip. Fresh from the virtual oven. (::) (::) (::)! I also got a few questions in reviews and PMs. They'll be answered in the author's note at the end of the chapter. Just to let you know, Madge POV.**

"Ladies and gentlemen… let the seventy-fifth Hunger Games… begin!"

I pulled myself from the nightmare, panting and crying. I don't know why I'd volunteered to go into the Games, not when I'd had nightmares about the Hunger Games since age five.

But I was here now.

I stretched and dressed in a black tunic and dark blue pants. When a groggy Katniss came to fetch me for breakfast (an all-you-can-eat self-serve buffet), I was ready and alert for the day ahead.

Peeta, our harder mentor by far, lectured us all throughout breakfast. "Today is the last day of training. You need to scope out the allies, the competition. You need to watch everything. Today, even though you are training, you are observers. Of everything. Got that?"

We nodded vigorously.

So while I was 'observing everything', I happened to notice a few budding romances and/or crushes. Here was my list:

Cal liked Madge.

August liked Tasi.

Kyle 'Ky' Oliver, the nice, sweet one from 2, liked Madge.

Miri liked no one.

Wiret liked Miri.

Tasi liked Gale.

Shark liked no one.

Violet Grace, the shy girl from District 5, liked no one.

Jessamine 'Jess' Tailour, the crazy psycho from 6 who always wore a hoodie and mask, liked no one.

Zeo Akiuya, the male from 6, liked Jess. Shocker!

Gail liked no one.

Steph was deeply in love with Shark. (Noooo, duh!)

Melody, the shy, pretty girl with a lovely singing voice from 9 who Katniss had mentioned yesterday, liked no one.

Poppy and Jerz, to all their 'hating' routine, liked each other! I could see it in their eyes, shy glances, giggles.

Finally, Gale liked Tasi. Another shocker! :D

But no one really caught _my_ eye. I mean, really. What shallow person goes around knowing of their imminent death and still looking for a pretty girl, if they're a boy, and a handsome boy, if they're a girl?

Oh, that's right! Gale.

Him and Tasi's relationship was developing quickly. To the point where on the night before the interviews, Tasi was coming to his room at night and they were going to the roof to have a bit of peace.

I know this because I spied on them.

Not out of jealousy! I was just curious. I'd never had a boyfriend, never had a kiss. Not that I'd never seen one; in fact, I'd seen many. Actually, lots of those were Gale. On the slag heap. In the Meadow. Behind the school. In the cafeteria. In front of the bakery. Kissing so many girls it's hard to count.

I wonder if Tasi knows she's not the 'special first'.

000

As the girl from District 12, I'm scheduled to go second-to-last for the interviews. I got my score of nine two days ago, for shooting poison darts so fast around the room that in under a minute every large thing had a dart in its center.

Gale got an okay score of seven. He told Tasi later (I overheard) that he broke his bowstring on accident in the middle of his private session.

Tasi, by the way, got a two. Ha, ha, Tasi!

Not that I'm jealous, of course.

Steph had quite the surprise up her sleeve. In a tiny pearly-white gown, she scurried over to Caesar. When Caesar asked her about her mother, Steph stood up and looked over to where the Gamemakers sat surrounding President Snow. She said, in the loudest voice I'd heard her speak in so far:

"My mother is alive, but she is dead. To everyone else, she is here, but to me, she is gone."

Then she went back to her seat, even before the buzzer sounded.

When it was my turn, I stood up and walked over to Caesar Flickerman. Clad in a beautiful black dress and matching black makeup, I looked like a… beautiful… piece… of coal. I sat down next to him. My dress sparkled with red highlights, and Caesar set the ball running with a few questions about how I met Katniss, and why I thought Katniss picked me.

"I met Katniss at school," I started. "Neither of us were too popular, so we ended up being paired together for a lot of school assignments."

Caesar nodded understandingly.

"I know why Katniss picked me," I said. A buzz ran through the crowd. I could practically feel their surprise. "Katniss chose me because I went to her and asked her to let me come."

"A volunteer, more or less," Caesar whispered. "Why?"

"Because the only other three girls on her list were Delly Cartwright, Leevy, and Prim."

"I understand why you didn't want Prim to go into the arena," Caesar nodded. "But who are Delly and Leevy?"

"Two girls from our district," I said. "Delly… she's the cheeriest girl you could ever imagine. And while Leevy's tough, she's not weapons-tough. More spirit-tough. It was my opinion-" I looked into the camera. "-I'm not trying to insult anyone, but it was my opinion that neither of them would last long in the Games."

"Why did you think that you had a better shot?" asked Caesar.

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "I just didn't… I…"

_Buzz_!

I tramped back to my seat, my face bright red. I didn't have to look at Katniss to see the horror on her face, to know the truth. That was the worst possible way it could have gone. First, I had revealed absolutely nothing about myself. Second, it had been boring. Third, I had come off as arrogant.

Oh, no.

It took all of my control _not_ to bury my face in my hands.

**Okay, a pretty bad and short chapter… but question-answering time!**

**First, I'd like to address a guess by MaryJohnson, in a review. I'd like to clear up the confusion- Melody is ****_not_**** Snow's granddaughter. **

**Second, a question by one of my friends who asked me a really good question in person and I want all of you to know the answer. My friend asked about Steph's background. Steph has been suffering anxiety attacks since she was small. Her dad was a drug addict; her mom got captured by the Capitol and is now a Gamemaker. That's why she is dead to Steph, because now she is making the Games that Steph thinks she will die in.**


	6. Chapter Four

**I'M BACK! Sorry for coming back six days late... but school's been really fun, and I'm on this forum thingie with my friends so I rarely wrote over the past month or so!**

**Disclaimer: I own all of the tributes except Gale and Madge, and I don't own any mentors or anything. Just the tributes except the District 12 ones.**

**Sorry for the short chapter… but writing as August really gets on my nerves!**

**This chapter is dedicated to my friend, who had a birthday a few days ago, on the fourth. You know who you are! Happy birthday!**

**August POV!**

i not know why tasi not like me. i smart and hansome and kill easy. okay she a little bit stupid because she like gale but she still very pretty and i like tasi. anyway it the day of the real games. i not able to wait, i say to my district partner ebony davenport, but she only grin at me and say bet she beat me in the games so i laugh and hit her on the arm. she only thirteen but she really strong. she hate shark and tasi because she think they betray us and it true. she also really hate kyle oliver, but she let him in. he brutus'es cousin so she want his killing abilitty. between you and me i think kyle not up for killing anyone but that just me! also ebony like thalya lacey, because she can kick butt and plus she nice to ebony and me. thalya also like kyle just a little bit, which is why ebony is overuled because it is 2 to 1. plus they from the same district. district too is cool.

anyhow my stylist raesha wake me up early and give me shift to wear, i put it on and we get in a hovercraft and go to arena. lady hurt me and put tracker in my arm, and raesha and i sit down and eat breakfast of waffles. soon windows blackout so i not see, and i clap like my little brother edgar back home. he only eleven but he act weird. cashmere and gloss say he have mental disbility. me not know what disbility is. we go under arena and i stretch head forward for a look at arena, but raesha slap me and yell at me because peeking is cheeting around here. i shrug say whatever and get changed into the clothes raesha give me. they weird, they all stretchy and blue, and purple belt look odd because it big and stretchy. shoes are padded and skweak when i walk. i jump around and listen to skweak, skweak, skweak, and i laugh again- i like laughing because it remind me of edgar. i already full from breakfast on hovercraft but i stuff me silly with chiken and red sauce. it taste good! then raesha hand me my bracelet. it small and silver, and it remind me of my last name which is silver. it my token, from edgar. i put it on and grin at raesha. she snort and push me over to sylinder, which come down around me, then i wait and wait and wait and finally i start to go up to arena.

i only see water, but as i try to look for anything else, claudius templsmith yell, ladyes and jentlemen let the seventy fifth hungergames begin.


	7. Chapter Five

**Disclaimer: I own all of the tributes except Gale and Madge, and I don't own any mentors or anything. Just the tributes except the District 12 ones.**

**Madge POV!**

One full minute. Sixty seconds until we could jump off of the plate and swim for the jungle and beach surrounding us. I squinted in the sunlight. It seemed overly bright. _Are the Gamemakers messing with us already? _I thought._ I get that that's their job and all, but still!_

I assessed the pile of weapons near me. Unlike years in the past, all of the stuff seemed to be piled in or right around the Cornucopia. I guessed they don't want any of the weapons getting rusted.

Speaking of the Cornucopia, I focused my gaze on it. It didn't seem to have any supplies this year. Only…

"Weapons?" I shouted to Jerz, who was sharing the spoke of sand with me.

"Weapons!" he yelled back. "Now where are the rest of us?"

"Shut up and get ready to run!" I howled.

_Three. Two. One._

The gong rang out in a supersonic boom. Jerz and I took off running, and when we reached the end of our strip of sand, we didn't stop. We plunged straight into the water and started to swim.

I knew how to swim from Shark's lessons, but it was easier here than back in the pool in the Training Center. I wondered why, briefly, and then kept slicing through the water. When I got to the Cornucopia, I dragged myself up onto the sand and spit out a mouthful of water. Then I scanned the pile. _Where are the darts? Come on! They have to have darts!_

Finally, I spotted them. Balanced precariously on top of the mouth of the horn. I would have to climb to get the twenty darts and two packs of liquid poison. I clambered on top of a pack of spears and nearly slipped, but someone caught me and pushed me back up. Gale. He himself grabbed a spool of wire, a bow, and two sheaths of arrows. Tasi and Shark had their tridents and nets. Miri, who had a rapier, and Wiret, who had a weird-looking sword called a katzbalger, were play fighting, and Cal had a type of large knife called a kukuri and two lethal-looking whips covered in barbed wire. I shuddered at the thought. Melody, who we'd decided to let in after all, had a collection of knives that was almost as impressive as Clove's from last year. Steph looked left out with only a small curved sword, and Gail was standing near Gale with a sad-looking pair of tiny axes. Jerz and Poppy stood near each other. Poppy had a type of large sword that she explained to me was called a falchion, plus two knives, and Jerz had two cutlasses.

I reached for the darts… reached… reached… there! I snatched up the darts. Now for the poison. I stretched… stretched… and to my horror, I felt the pile of weapons start to shift beneath me- I was causing an avalanche!

I stretched forward in a burst of energy and grabbed the packs of poison, then I was falling. Falling…

And I wasn't falling anymore. I was in someone's arms. Whose?

Ky.

I sputtered, "Ky- what- who- how- why?"

He set me down. "You better run now!"

I saw his Career pack heading toward me. Ebony was wielding two katanas, Japanese swords. Thalya had four small, silver throwing stars in each hand, and I shivered. August had a gigantic axe, and looked like he could use it with ease.

I sped off with my wolf pack behind me, into the jungle, away from the Careers.

**There we go! They're finally in the arena! You guys can expect some more frequent updates from me now! :)**

**It's still not too late to submit a tribute! (I can't post the next chapter until I get the boys from 5, 7, 8, and 9.)**


	8. Chapter Six

**Disclaimer: I own all of the tributes except Gale and Madge, and I don't own any mentors or anything. Just the tributes except the District 12 ones.**

**Melody POV.**

We ran, and ran, and ran. I kept periodically checking that I had all twenty of my knives. Finally, we stopped to rest. Everyone 13 and under- Steph, Gail, Poppy, and Shark- were pretty winded. So we stopped.

By then, even though it couldn't have been two hours since I'd eaten breakfast on the silver hovercraft, I was hungry. I heard Shark's stomach rumbling too. But we didn't have anything to eat, except-

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

I turned to Tasi, who was eating some strange nuts. "Do you _mind_?" I asked.

Then I realized- Tasi was eating! Strange nuts! "Tasi! Spit those out!" I ordered.

Tasi shook her head and said around a mouthful of nuts, "These are safe. Mags taught me so."

I took a nut and shelled it, then bit into it. It tasted slightly like a chestnut, which I'd had exactly once. Five years ago. The flavor took me back, to when I was a sweet, innocent girl of ten.

_"Mely!"_

_It had been a long, hard day working in the fields the day before. My brother Jack, six years older, was actually one of the few people who was strong and gentle enough to tend the animals that pulled the plows. I never saw him during the day. It was like he lived on another planet from six a.m. to eight p.m. during every day._

_However, there was one day where I saw him until nine a.m.- Reaping Day. Much as I hated it, whatever. I got to see my brother._

_I was standing with my mother and younger sister Song in the family section. I heard my brother's nickname for me. I stood on tiptoe, searching for him. I hadn't seen him all morning. He'd gotten in a few work hours before the Reaping today so tonight, when we celebrated, he would get off of work a few hours early._

_He was thoughtful like that._

_My mother lifted me up. Finally, I could see. He was waving at me from the sixteen-year-old section. I waved back and blew him a kiss. I couldn't hear him, but I could see him laughing. He turned back around and I went back to the ground._

_"Jack Dawnblossom."_

_Everything went silent- the birds that Jack tended and that I sang with, the people, even the wind ceased. Everyone loved my brother. Why did he have to go?_

_That night, we were supposed to celebrate. People brought my family food. It was the only time I had ever tasted chestnuts, and they were like coal in my mouth. All I could think of was Jack. Jack. Jack…_

I never saw his death. My mother covered my and my sister's eyes. She told me that he had a sword stuck through his heart by a Career, but I asked my friends and they told me a whole different story. He was beheaded by the girl from District Five. Ever since then, I've watched the televisions eagerly for the sign of death for the girls from District Five. The girl this year is a girl named Violet- Violet Grace Bloom.

I am sworn to kill her. If I die without killing that girl, I will feel as if my brother is unavenged.

000

After we ate a lunch of not-quite-chestnuts, we set off running again. Suddenly, we heard cannon shots.

"The bloodbath must've ended," Gail said quietly.

We listened, counting, waiting.

_Boom!_

"One," Tasi whispered.

_Boom!_

"Two," Gale supplied.

_Boom! Boom!_

"Three," Miri muttered.

"Four," Poppy murmured.

We listened, waiting for more, but there was only the chatter of the birds.

"Only four?" Wiret asked disbelievingly.

"I wonder which four," Steph said brightly. "Hey, maybe all six- er, four- Careers died, and we're the prominent pack!"

"Good idea," Madge remarked, ruffling Steph's hair.

"Let's get going again," I suggested.

"Okay," Gale agreed, jumping in front.

To the sky, I shouted silently, _Violet? When I find you, I will kill you. That is my job. Can you hear me?!_

**Now… review!**


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